Internet Relay Chat Hear it!

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) Hacker Definition
A software tool that makes real-time conversations online (in what is known as chat rooms) possible. Though chat rooms form an important, positive communication link for hackers, many females and children in particular have filed complaints to authorities about being cyberharassed or cyberstalked in them.

As one example, in Toronto, Canada, in May 2005, Canadian police infiltrated an Internet chat room and found disturbing cyber child pornography evidence that resulted in the arrest of Andrew Gelfand, age 19. After the police obtained a search warrant and raided the suspect’s home, they seized his computers and reviewed the hard drives. Gelfand faced a number of charges involving the possession and distribution of child pornography.

See Also: Chat Room; Child Pornography; Cyberhassment; Cyberstalkers and Cyberstalking.

Internet Highway, LLC. Internet Terminology: IRC. [Online, 1999.] Internet Highway, LLC Website. http://www.ihwy.com/support/netterms.html; Moore, O. Computer User Arrested in Child-Porn Sting. The Globe and Mail, May 12, 2005, p. A14; Schell, B.H., and Lanteigne, N.M. Stalking, Harassment, and Murder in the Workplace: Guidelines for Protection and Prevention. Westport, CT: Quorum, 2000.